It's time to shout about the #DiscoverIrishKidsBooks new releases for older readers this March!
From comic books and the childhood of CS Lewis, to the stunning debut of a Castlebar primary school teacher and Book 17 in the beloved Skullduggery Series there are a lot of new releases to celebrate this March.
Here's a round-up of some of our new favourites for older readers, compiled by award-winning and best-selling Irish Author Triona Campbell.
Draw with Will - Ages 8+
Author Will Sliney
Publisher: Gallery Kids
Irish comic book artist and the star of SkyKids Draw With Will and RTE’s Storytellers, Will Sliney, gives us the ultimate activity book this March. One that fights aliens, and allows you to create your own spaceship and invent new out-of-this-world creatures.
A guide that is a must for anyone who wants to learn how to draw! Will and Drawdroid go on an adventure through space and time teaching the reader to draw as they go. With step-by-step instructions, pro tips, fun facts and tons of action along the way, this is everything you need to bring the creatures of your imagination to life.
Giant - Ages 9+
Author Judith McQuoid
Publisher: Little Island Books
From Belfast born author Judith McQuoid comes a fictionalised exploration of the childhood of CS Lewis.
Davy, a working-class boy living in East Belfast in 1908, is sent to work at the wealthy Lewis household. When he meets Jacks – the name by which CS Lewis was known to friends and family – Davy is captivated by his friend’s world of books and stories.
Together the boys plunge into imagining and adventuring, and Davy discovers his own artistic talent. But when Davy is offered a job at the shipyard, and Jack’s mother falls gravely ill, their wondrous days of make-believe seem numbered. Will they lose their extraordinary shared world forever?
After - Ages 9+
Author Pádraig Kenny/ Illustrator by Steve McCarthy
Publisher: Walker Books
From Newbridge, Co Kildare comes another cracker of a tale from author Pádraig Kenny working with Dublin native illustrator Steve McCarthy.
Jen and her father are making their way across a deserted world after a technological collapse has brought civilization as we knew it to an end. The Flood has taken out almost all technology. Those who are left behind are devastated and frightened as they struggle to build a new way of life.
Adding to this - Jen's father is also hiding a secret – he isn't related to her by blood, he is an AI, a glitch in the system, and a secret that must be kept, even from those Jen wishes she could trust... Exploring themes of what it means to be human, the value of every individual and where true danger lies – in our technological creations, or the ones who create them – this is a powerful and hopeful dystopian adventure.
The Case of the Secret Signal - Ages 9+
Author Brian Gallagher
Publisher: The O’Brien Press
Dublin born Brian Gallagher brings us back to Ireland in 1911 in this his new book where a secret signal flashes in the night … an SOS.
Is someone being held prisoner? Friends Tim, Deirdre and Joe set out to investigate. But what starts as a diversion while on holiday in Carlingford quickly spirals into a dangerous adventure. Can they solve the case before it’s too late? And who can they trust?
The Doomsday Club - Ages 10+
Author Kevin Moran
Publisher: O’Brien Press
Castlebar primary school teacher Kevin Moran is the author behind The Doomsday Club. Conan's and Jack’s friendship is officially dead. Stuck in detention with Yash and Jerry after an all-out brawl this is officially a terrible start to sixth class. But things are about to get a lot worse when they witness a monstrous beast step out of a portal outside their school.
When it wanders into the crumbling mansion across the road, where the sinister Mr Kilroe lives, the boys follow. They have to investigate, right? Unlocking Mr Kilroe’s secrets is only the beginning. Because there’s more than one otherworldly horror hiding in that house and confronting it will put Jack and Conan in mortal danger – that’s if they don’t kill each other first!
Skulduggery Pleasant: A Heart Full of Hatred - Ages 10+
Author Derek Landy
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
There really aren’t enough words to describe the impact Lusk native Derek Landy has had internationally on teen and adult readers with his multimillion selling book series Skulduggery Pleasant.
'A heart full of hatred’ is book no 17 and sure to delight and propel Landy to the no 1 slot once again in several countries. A must read as the bone-shaking adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series continue. This time Vengeance is a killer. A killer is stalking and murdering sorcerers, and Valkyrie Cain is next on his list.
While hunting down a cult of magical terrorists intent on taking their revenge on the mortal world, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are drawn into a murder investigation with unsettling similarities to a case they just closed – the case that nearly took the lives of both Valkyrie’s sister and girlfriend.
Songs for Ghosts - Ages 15+
Author Clara Kumagai
Publisher: Zephyr
Japanese Irish author Clara Kumagai follows up the award winning Catfish Rolling's with a second YA novel full of longing, love and heartbreak, inspired by Puccini's Madame Butterfly. When Japanese-American teenager, Adam, discovers a diary in his attic, he is enthralled by its account of a young Japanese woman's life. A hundred years separate them yet she, like Adam, is caught between cultures, relationships and heartbreak.
She also writes of ghosts that have begun to seek her out, which Adam dismisses as fantasy - until he too, begins to be haunted. Forcing him to go on a quest to Nagasaki, trying to solve the mystery of the diary, and his own identity.
And that's it for new releases this March now available in local libraries and bookstores throughout the country.
For more book recommendations check out Discover Irish Kids Books - or give them a follow on Instagram or X.
Discover Irish Kids Books round-up graphic by Bex Sheridan.
Triona Campbell is the author of A Game of Life Or Death and The Traitor in the Game, and part of the team at #DiscoverIrishKidsBooks – a campaign to highlight and celebrate Irish kids and teen books.
And don't forget the RTÉjr Book Club every month, encouraging young readers to pick up a book!
